Germany to Push for Exemptions From U.S. Sanctions on Russia

19/04/2018

The Wall Street Journal reports that German leaders want the Trump administration to exempt their country’s companies from tough new U.S. sanctions on Russia.

German industrial giants including SiemensAG , DaimlerAG and VolkswagenAG do business with entities tied to people subject to the sanctions. German executives say the measures could threaten long-standing joint ventures, stop banks from financing new projects in Russia, and potentially cost German industry hundreds of millions of euros.

“We have a very bad feeling about the current spiral of sanctions,” said Leif Erichsen, a spokesman for German utility Uniper SE, which is a partner in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline being built to connect Russia and Europe. “We hope that everyone involved will quickly realize that it is always better to de-escalate.”